DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 10, 2026

Jon Rahm

Jumeirah Golf Estates, Earth Course

Press Conference

BRIONY CARLYON: Delighted to welcome Jon Rahm to the DP World Tour in Dubai.

Coming off a whirlwind week in Abu Dhabi and a third Rolex Series victory, how are you looking coming into this week in Dubai where you also have a phenomenal record behind you?

JON RAHM: Yeah, coming in with a little extra incentive. I really didn't think even winning last week I was going to have a chance to possibly win The Race to Dubai at all. So obviously gives this week a little bit more meaning than it did before.

Q. How would you assess 2026 for you as a golfing year?

JON RAHM: I've played really good golf this year. It's just that unfortunately some of my not-so-good weeks happen to be in the majors, right. Besides the PGA where I had a decent chance of winning, the other three majors, I didn't do a good enough job.

Overall really good, but those tournaments matter so much to all of us that, you know, kicking myself a little bit over that.

Q. Why do you think that was?

JON RAHM: You know, I think it's easier at regular events to maybe compensate for some things that we're doing wrong technique-wise. And when the pressure is at its biggest and the stage is the largest is when those mistakes will be accentuated and that's a little bit what happened.

Q. You have a terrific record here but three years since you were last here. Does it still feel familiar?

JON RAHM: Yeah. The course hasn't changed at all.

Q. And were you back in the groove the way you played here in the past today?

JON RAHM: Today?

Q. Today, yeah.

JON RAHM: It's a Tuesday. Doesn't really matter how we play. Rather early wake-up for the Pro-Am, so it wasn't the longest warmup.

I had a lovely group. We had a great time.

The only thing, it's unfortunate that the summer has been so hot here, which the greens are not to the firmness and the speed they usually are.

But yeah, feeling good. If you asked me how I was doing Tuesday, I thought I was going to shoot 75 every day. I don't think it's indicative what might happen Thursday through Sunday.

Q. You're not feeling rusty?

JON RAHM: No, I'm not.

Q. One other serious one. I just wonder, as you say, you've got a shot at The Race to Dubai. Should you do it, would it mean even more this time, given the fact that you have sort of come with a late charge?

JON RAHM: Well, I had to win in 2019 in order to be able to win it. No. I think it was a hard-fought day that Sunday, and birdieing the last when I needed to to win it all was very, very special. So I don't think it would make any more special than what it was already.

Q. You've won three times here. Rory has won three times here. Matt Fitzpatrick has won three times here. In addition to being good golfers, is there a reason for that?

JON RAHM: I don't know. We all play different games, right. I wouldn't be able to tell you. I think when you come to a golf course consistently enough, you end up getting comfortable and figuring out a way to play it.

If I had to say, Matt is a phenomenal iron player and a great putter. So when the greens are as good as they can be here, it's to his advantage.

If anything, Rory and I might do of our -- take our advantage maybe more off the tee perhaps, being able to take out some bunkers that some people can't and use the distance to make the golf course easier.

But I think it will be different reasons for each one.

Q. You're obviously one of the players trying to overtake Eugenio. Can you talk about how impressive it is for him to come here this week with the opportunity he's got?

JON RAHM: Is it his first or second full season on the DP World Tour? Second, right? Yeah, to turn pro, obviously have -- I think was it two or three years in LIV and make his way over to DP World Tour and perform the way he has; he's on won so far on every stage I've seen him perform at.

There's not much that can be said about his golf game that isn't already known. He's a phenomenal ball-striker, phenomenal. Has a great ball flight and the type of game that works on every golf course on the planet, stable in any condition. If the putter is at an average level, he's always going to have a chance.

And mentally, you can tell he's somebody that wants to be there. When it's a Sunday and he gets close, he is not usually a name that falls off, right. He stays there and puts the pressure on. So he's brave enough to do that, and has a lot of confidence in himself, which you need.

Q. At the press conference last week, as discussed, you did say you were rusty last week. What changed? What helped you perform the way that you did to win that title? What was it? Was it one moment on course? What changed for you?

JON RAHM: Once we teed off on Thursday, I'm not thinking about the rustiness. Practise rounds, it can happen.

I would say the three iron shots to start, I know it's a wedge on 1, but it felt really good. 5-iron from the bunker on 2 and the 8-iron on 3 were all great, and 6-iron on 4, all three of them were great swings.

After that, there wasn't really anything to be worried about, right. It started in a really good groove, 2-under through four, 3-under through six. I think the rustiness was something that was looking at in the rear-view mirror quick.

To be honest, if anything, it's more of an excuse than anything else. There's plenty of time that people have taken time off and sometimes it helps you more than it hurts, especially when we have had a long year. I have noticed in the past in September, October, I take two, three weeks off, and my first week back is actually fairly good.

I think I did it once before, 2019. I did take a whole month off before coming here, because I feel like I needed it, and I came and won. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned there for myself.

Q. A little bit of the same, but early on, Tyrrell Hatton won after a family addition. You're doing the same thing. What is it about getting a newborn baby and coming out and performing right after?

JON RAHM: Well, I think -- if I remember correctly, we do have four, so the more you have, the more likely you are to maybe play good afterwards. But it did happen with Kepa because we had him in April, and won the U.S. Open in June and played really good at Memorial that year as well.

I can't remember, I don't think with Eneko I won anything shortly after. I don't know if it's a correlation there. But in my case, so far this past week, there's the happiness and relief of being home for the first and the first few weeks, which I've never been home for the first two weeks of a newborn, right. I think I just came with a really good mindset in that sense. Everybody was healthy and happy at home, and just makes it a lot easier for me to come and play.

When it's your first, there's a level of euphoria and happiness comes with it, and it's extremely special when you become a parent for the first time. I think when you go on the golf course, you can feed off of that.

Q. A bit off-topic, but do you think there's a distance problem in golf, and if you were in charge, would you look at the ball or the driver head as something to change?

JON RAHM: It's a tricky question because there's obviously been an incredible advancement with the technology of the golf ball and the club that's undeniable.

Last time I heard, they were saying that the driving distance leaders in 2004 and nowadays aren't that different. The biggest difference would be probably the average of the Top 20, right. It's made our misses a lot longer.

But the way players work at their physical abilities and get stronger in the gym and how much faster we swing overall should also be looked at.

I do think a lot of the golf course design nowadays is aided to that. And we go to a major, this year we played a 450-yard par 4, right, and Aaron Rai won, not the longest hitter. But you think, okay, this is what I need to do: 260-yard par 3, 200-yard par 3s, everything just keeps getting longer.

When I think a lot of the courses that stand the test of time are narrow short golf courses where you need to place the golf ball, I use the example of Valderrama, right. Valderrama has really changed much since I remember watching it, and it's just difficult every time you play it. Colonial before they redesigned it; Harbour Town if the not windy, scores do get low. This past year it showed how difficult it was.

I think there's a discussion to be had in both cases, right. I think there's something that can be done with golf course design and golf course setup. And it could also be something to entertain to change or limit clubs or the golf ball, but I'm not a proponent of that. I think that kind of -- I think there's so much freedom in design in golf that you could make golf courses that are anti-distance.

Q. On te golf course, I know you've played so many golf courses around the world for so many years, are there any left that you haven't played yet that are on your bucket list?

JON RAHM: Never played County Down. Never played Muirfield. Never played Pine Valley. Trying to think of maybe more iconic ones. I need to remember all the names. There's one in New Zealand, I keep forgetting the name. Never played Metropolitan. Never played -- I played Kingston Heath. Royal Melbourne. Never played Royal Adelaide. In France, I never played Chantilly.

If you give me enough time, I'll think of a few more. I'll leave it on that. It's just with our schedule, I don't really have the freedom to go, "Hey, honey, I'm going to go a golf trip, bye."

Q. There's been plenty made about what Rory could achieve this week, but you could win a second Race to Dubai title. When you consider all the achievements in your year, what would that mean to you?

JON RAHM: It would mean a great deal. I think it would just be more of a step towards hopefully getting closer to what Seve was able to achieve, right.

But it would still be a long way to go. I think that if we can one would mean a lot, if I ever get to five or six, and then after that, you think about Monty and by then, you'll probably be thinking about Rory, whatever he's at.

Yeah, I think after the first one, those second, thirds, it becomes something, once you can approach whoever is next, right, or once you're done, you can reflect on it. It would be special, to not knowing I had a chance, come in the last two weeks and get it done.

Q. Your LIV days are behind you. But one of the things that you always spoke about during that time was the aspect of team championship that LIV embraced. Given the success of Ryder Cup, Walker Cup, Presidents Cup, would you like to have some kind of team championship in world golf or maybe bring back something like the World Cup of Nations? Will that be a good addition?

JON RAHM: I got asked this question recently. There's very few sports here in this world that don't have a World Cup, and golf is one of them.

So if there was a way to do such a thing, I think I would welcome it. It would be a lot of fun.

Q. You spoke earlier about the majors being disappointing this year. Do you hope that winning last week, playing more regularly in the DP World Tour and then eventually the PGA Tour can be the start of a new Golden Era for Jon Rahm?

JON RAHM: We've got to stop blaming LIV for me playing poorly at the majors. I know what you are all trying to insinuate. It's not because of LIV. It's my own. Because I did have a chance to win the PGA the last two years we played it, right. It's my own doing and my own, let's say, golf swing problems.

That's what I was alluding, that when you are not playing a big event, it's a lot easier to manage certain things. Golf courses usually are easier, so you can manage them that way.

So I hope that what I'm working on recently can be something that makes me more consistent on the biggest stages, yeah.

BRIONY CARLYON: Thank you for your time, and all the best this week.